More than half a month later, the first test of the new treasure ship was sent back good news, and all aspects were quite smooth, and some even exceeded them.

The excess is mainly reflected in speed and stability.

After several tests by Wei Zhanjun and others, the sailing speed of the new treasure ship has reached the inherent speed of the Clippers. If the labor is added, it can exceed 20% of the Clippers plus labor, or even 30%.

It’s a pity that the Ming Dynasty did not have a way to accurately calculate the speed at this time. Otherwise, if it was reflected with more intuitive numbers, the sense of diligence would be more obvious.

As for the improvement of stability, it is mainly reflected in the width of the hull and the design of the bottom of the ship.

Originally, the standard warships of the Ming Dynasty were mostly seven or eight meters wide, about 10 meters wide, and at most, they were only over ten meters long. Even though they learned a lot of valuable experience from their predecessors, they were still scientific, but they were not very related to scientific design. They were more of a summary of the experiences and lessons of their predecessors, and their principles and standards were still a little worse.

Especially the design of the bottom of the ship.

Due to many reasons such as the depth of the seabed, ocean currents, weather, draft, etc., our China can almost use the Yangtze River as the dividing line. The sea areas in the north of the Yangtze River are mostly flat-bottomed ships, and the fleets sailing in the south of the Yangtze River, including deep-sea fleets, are mostly sharp-bottomed ships.

The new treasure ship developed by the Model Army at this time was specially added with a small number of pointed bottoms, which is somewhat similar to the aerodynamics of cars.

Moreover, because the main cabin uses a large amount of iron cover, the weight of the hull has increased a lot.

The superposition of various reasons has made the stability of the treasure ship intuitively improve.

It is a compromise method, that is, you can sail in the Liaohai and Huanghai areas, and you have the ability to go to Southeast Asia without suffering a great loss.

Of course, we have not yet experienced the test of actual combat. Now these things cannot be counted directly. They must be pulled out to know whether they are mules or horses. They need to be tested by time.

Wei Zhanjun and others also tested the coordination and flexibility of the hull that Xu Changqing was more concerned about, and the effect in this aspect was a bit too ideal.

Too much mass load means losing some flexibility. This is the law of physical guest officials, which cannot be avoided even in later generations.

At this stage, people can only adapt to the ship, not the ship.

Fortunately, even though the Ming Dynasty declined, it still did not lack the precious human resources that Europe lacked. Xu Changqing also had abundant financial resources. He only needed to continue debugging, improving, and running-in. Perhaps in less than a year or two, the combat effectiveness of the fleet could be formed.

By then, there will be at least a hundred large ships, 20,000 people, or more than 30,000 people.

...

During these days, while Xu Changqing comforted the house, he was not idle in government and military affairs.

As Xu Changqing had expected before, the autumn harvest in Haicheng and surrounding areas was very smooth due to the marriage with Dong'e and Kong Sizhen.

Especially sweet potatoes, after this year's hard work, it is not an exaggeration to say that they have a bumper harvest. In the surrounding areas, any family that grows sweet potatoes can earn five or six taels or seven or eight taels of silver even if the worst is.

This is not the case with at least a thousand kilograms of rice, flour and food stored at home.

The hoarding of military rations is even more gratifying.

Dozens of model military granaries, including Haicheng, Kenli Island, Caofeidian, Baisha Island, Yangma Island, Zhifu Island, etc., have accumulated and hoarded military rations for more than two years.

This is not the case with Li Youwei's flour mills, wineries, and several major official warehouses of the Political Bureau, including the inventory of major grain traders in Haicheng and surrounding areas.

This is also proved by facts that even if the Little Ice Age is terrible, it is not that human power cannot defeat it.

As long as there are no military disasters, no terrifying taxes, the government will guide and support it, and ensure the stability of the market, the creativity of the Han people is endless.

However, things are always relative.

There will be joy and sorrow.

Shortly after the Haicheng harvest, Xu Changqing was preparing for the war in full swing. News came from Jiangnan that this year, the treasury's annual income was in trouble, and the Jiangnan region was very likely to be

A shortage of food occurred.

The most direct manifestation is that shortly after the autumn harvest, the grain prices in Jiangnan began to rise sharply, and now it has risen by more than 50%.

The main reason is not complicated. Speaking of which, it has a lot to do with Xu Changqing.

Because Xu Changqing's plan with Zheng Chagu when he was in Nanjing was captured by many keen Jiangnan's great merchants and landlords, Xu Changqing seemed to support the opening of the sea.

So starting this spring, they ran around each other, continued to increase their efforts to plant cash crops and abandoned the planting of staple food.

"I @#￥%!!"

When he heard this news, Xu Changqing smashed the set of official kiln tea sets he liked by Zheng Chagu, and he wanted to eat people alive.

But even if they do this, Xu Changqing is not good for a while.

Xu Changqing and the court could not control too much of the land.

It’s no wonder that even Master Jiajing had to shrink his neck back then. He talked to these Jiangnan landlords in a nonsense. If he wanted to change, there was only one way to hold their noses.

In this way, it is inevitable that Haicheng will release grain to Jiangnan. Even though you can make a lot of money, Xu Changqing really doesn't want to make this money.

The only thing that is thankful is that the harvest this year is pretty good in southern Huguang, Guangdong, and some areas of Guangxi. Xu Changqing doesn’t have to use too much Haicheng’s grain reserves.

Moreover, Brother Yiguan is very powerful.

He has already released news in Nanyang that the Ming Dynasty is short of food. I think a lot of food will pour into Nanyang within a month or two, and he has sent people to Nanyang to collect grain.

Of course, Yiguan also has his conditions and wants to reopen Quanzhou.

As for these complexities, Xu Changqing couldn't help but leave them to the court.

The eldest brother of the official wanted to open the market, but he could not take too much power. Otherwise, neither Xu Changqing nor the court would be safe.

Let them compete for the amount here.

With so many pairs of eyes watching, Xu Changqing also wanted to take a good look at who would dare to commit crimes against the wind at this time!

...

After dealing with these complicated matters, Xu Changqing began to focus on military affairs.

At this time, the combat power of the "White Wolf Group" on Jeju Island has been initially formed, with a scale of almost 6,000 or 7,000 people. It is definitely not enough to go against the Qing Dynasty, but they have been labeled as "pirates" and have made some small moves, and the conditions are ripe.

In Sichuan and Shu, although Xian Bid and Wu Sangui both maintained strong restraint, both Zhang Xianzhong and Wu Sangui must understand that a battle between them was inevitable, and they just had to wait for an opportunity to appear.

The reason is very simple.

Wu Sangui has ambitions and ambitions. If he wants to truly stand up, Qin Chuan, including Hejian, obviously, can only serve as support, not as foundation.

It is okay to develop to the northwest, but how can the northwest be compared with the fertile Shu area?

Therefore, only by conquering Shu, destroying Zhang Xianzhong, occupying the beauty of Bashu, and living in natural dangers, can Wu Sangui's back be truly upright.

Zhang Xianzhong naturally understood this point, and he would only be more vigilant than the Qing Dynasty.

As for the Qing Dynasty, Dorgon and others also understood that stalemate was the most beneficial result for them. At present, the Qing Dynasty could no longer withstand any major setbacks.

This also led to many cores gathering on the Model Jun and Xu Changqing.

Once Xu Changqing and the Model Army take action again, the war will re-emerge against the Qing Dynasty, and it will inevitably leverage the balance of the entire world.

Of course, the result is also joy and sorrow.

If the Qing Dynasty could destroy Xu Changqing and the Model Army, all these troubles would no longer exist.

But on the contrary, if the Qing Dynasty suffered great losses in its battle with the Model Army, then many things would be hard to say.

At this time, the world seemed quite calm, but in fact it had already been undercurrents, and it was aroused by one blow and the whole body!

a little

If you are not careful, the fragile balance will be broken directly!

And the core of all this is the Model Army!

...

Haicheng, study room in the Hou Mansion.

Xu Changqing had been thinking about it in the inner study for several days, but he had not made a decision for a long time.

The Model Army seemed powerful at this time, and the time for war in all aspects was ripe, but it was precisely because of this that Xu Changqing became more cautious.

If this battle is not opened, it will be gone. Once it is opened, the influence will be unparalleled.

If there is a mistake in the Model Army at some stage, even if Xu Changqing is a time traveler, even if Xu Changqing has a strong foundation, it is very likely that he will be irreversible.

This also forced Xu Changqing to be cautious.

It should be noted that whether it is Wu Sangui, Zhang Xianzhong, Li Zicheng, Luo Rucai, He Yilong, Bai Guangen, Kong Youde and others, they are all hungry wolves.

Not to mention the forces such as the Zu family hiding under the water.

Although the Zu family is now in a frustration and seems to have no foundation, the core children of the Zu family have important positions in the Qing Dynasty, and most of them have real power.

In addition to the influence they have formed over the generations, there are many tenants under their command. With a wave of their arms, they are still powerful first-class military groups.

This also led to Xu Changqing being reluctant to know where to start the war.

According to Xu Changqing's previous deployment, the battlefield is naturally more suitable in Goryeo.

The so-called "dead fellow Taoists do not die" If a war breaks out in Goryeo, even if some transportation and labor costs are to be increased, it can be completely negligible.

Taking a step back, even if the Model Army loses in Goryeo in the end, it will not hurt the core, and will make a comeback if it is a little slow.

But Xu Changqing could see this thing clearly, how could Dorgon and others not understand it?

The thing I fear most is that if the model army set out in Goryeo in advance, but the Qing army did not take the trap, the consequences would be a bit serious.

So this 'best strategy' is just the most ideal state.

It is not an exaggeration to be careful about this in the battle of the reign of the country in Zhiguan.
To be continued...